all this does not surprise me remembering a gathering several years ago when the entire AS staff met in Boise to announce their new flights to ORD and as Ben said " connecting to the world on AA" well that flopped for us in Idaho. What struck me was unlike past gatherings where we MM/75k's were invited little time was spent talking about their high mileage flyers, I knew then this was harbinger to come. Indeed it has come. Alaska is not "your hometown airline" and we FF are being milked like cows. And by the way the food is getting worse As has taken chicken to new low's for those of you who remember the chicken oriental the current chicken is worse.

Loyalty programs are yielding less and less as we spend more and more.